I know we’ve all seen the tabloids in action the past couple days. It’s the same story every time something like this “breaks.” The famous man who’s “happily” married with two children has a scandalous affair with some hot-shot socialite blah blah blah. I’m sick of it.

It’s always something when it comes to the tabloids – it’s actually been relatively quiet for a little while as of late – no pregnancy scares, cheating spouses, secret weddings. So, of course, at the sight of something indecent they jump like a fat kid on cake.

Anyway – the point of this post is not about the tabloids. I could rant and rant about them all day long (and still be just as addicted to the gossip). Every time something like this gets blown out of proportion, it becomes candy. It gives other men (ones not necessarily in the spotlight) the idea that it’s “ok” to transgress because, well, Tiger Woods did it and his wife forgave him. He just says “sorry” and *POOF* it’s like it never happened.

No.

Sorry, boys. That’s not the case. At least in my book.

It’s unfortunate that celebrity relationships become somewhat idolized and are then used as excuses for other relationships. In fact, it’s unfortunate that celebrities run our lives the way they do in general, but that’s a whole other blog post.

Back to the cheating (ahem, cheetah-ing) and what the tabloids don’t seem to cover: reality.

What they don’t cover are the real repercussions of his actions. They don’t cover the wife’s devastation. They don’t cover effect that the fact he cheated on his wife while she was taking care of his kids might have on his family. And if they do cover these things, they do it on a “limelight” sort of way. Personal life become a publicity stunt and the theory that “all attention is good attention” rings true. Suddenly, Tiger Woods is back in the press! Woohoo! Who cares about his wife anyway? She probably deserved it.

(If you couldn’t figure it out on your own, that was sarcasm…)

Whether it’s a celebrity or an average Joe – these kinds of overly fabricated, less-than-truthful stories, effect real-life, non-spotlight relationships as well. And what’s really terrible about it is that we let this crap permeate our lives. I can’t tell you what Twitter looked like today (you probably already know). “Tiger Woods” was a trending topic. What’s even worse? The hashtag #whymencheat was even higher on the trend popularity than “Tiger Woods.” This oh-so-clever hashtag was used to illustrate all of the reasons why men cheat on their women. It’s the woman’s fault that men cheat. Psht. Go ahead, check it out. It’s disgusting.

So, I’m curious. Why do men cheat? I know, I know. Men aren’t the only culprits, so, why do women cheat? Do you think that celebrity scandals have anything to do with views of what loyalty means? Have you ever cheated? I’m dying to know what you think.